hat did you see?" asked Shep.

"Two bears!"

"Two!" came from the others. "Where?"

"Away up on the mountainside. They were on a shelf of rocks, and
seemed to be looking at something out on the lake."

"Can we reach them with our guns?" asked Giant.

"Might reach one of 'em with the rifle. They were a good distance
off."

"Let us try to get closer," said Shep, who did not want to miss a
chance to aid in bringing down such big game.

"Yes, I don't want to have the only shot," added Snap. "We all
want a whack at them."

With extreme caution one after another of the young hunters looked
toward the shelf of rocks Whopper pointed out. True enough, two
bears were there, looking down toward Lake Narsac. As the boys
watched the game they turned slowly and walked to the end of the
shelf, disappearing behind some bushes.

"I believe we can get at least one of those bears if we are careful,"
said Snap.

"Don't you think it would be a good plan to above the bears by taking
a roundabout route?" came from Whopper. "I think we can shoot down
at them better than we can shoot up. Besides, if we are above them
I think we'll be safer. They can jump down on us easily enough, but
jumping up is another matter."

"Yes, and if we can't kill them with shots perhaps we can knock 'em
over with rocks," said Giant.

As they toiled up the mountainside it grew darker, and they noted
that the sun had gone behind a mass of angry-looking clouds. Far off
they heard a rumbling that betokened a thunderstorm.

"That storm is certainly coming," said Snap.

"It won't be any fun to be caught up here either."

"Perhaps it will pass off to the westward," returned the doctor's
son, hopefully. "The clouds seem to be moving in that direction."

They soon gained a point about on a level with the shelf of rocks
upon which they had seen the bears, but some distance to the southward.
Climbing now became difficult, and they had to help one another up
the steep places. Once Whopper took a tumble and would have rolled
down a long distance had not Shep caught him just in time.

"You want to be very careful," cautioned Snap. "A roll down the
mountainside might mean death."

By the time they had reached a point about a hundred feet above the
shelf of rocks they were so exhausted they had to sit down and rest.
They were now on another shelf, and from this location could look out
over the entire surface of Lake Narsac. Not a boat or a perso